Officials say city books now ready for 2012 state audit

Accounting software blamed for inability to balance books last year

EVANSVILLE - A year after a software conversion complicated Evansville's government ability to balance its accounts, city officials say they are prepared for their 2012 state audit.

By state law, the city's financial books for the previous year must be ready for review by the end of February. Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. said the city still is working on some reconciliations, but "we're basically balanced."

The city's general fund and utility accounts for 2012 are off by only $4,236, according to Lloyd. He said it's a far cry from the previous year's situation, when the city "just used the best numbers we had at the time" as audit time approached.

Evansville at the start of 2011 replaced a 25-year-old accounting system with a modernized version that computes data in real time. City officials cited a lack of sufficient technical support during the transition to Munis, the new software from Tyler Technologies.

Evansville's audit for 2011 by the State Board of Accounts cited a mismanaged conversion and a lack of internal financial controls in local government.

The software conversion and audit were discussed at length during several Evansville City Council meetings. Accounts were out of balance for all of 2011 and much of 2012.

Lloyd said the software now is working properly. He told the council at its last meeting a marathon

weekend session of number-crunching left the books in far better condition.

The State Board of Accounts will be in Evansville in May to do the annual audit, working from the Civic Center basement, Lloyd said.

David Garrett, an Evansville accountant hired by the City Council to review reconciliations on the council's behalf, said he has not yet seen the most recent records.

Garrett said the records are to come to him from City Council Finance Chairman John Friend, D-5th Ward, who is on vacation this week.

But Garrett added he has no reason to doubt the accounts are closer to being balanced. "(Lloyd) may be spot on, and I hope he is, because the city needs this audit to be clean."